Nogometni klubovi danas su većinom udruge ili trgovačka društva, a profesionalni nogometaši na globalnoj razini imaju status radnika ili, rjeđe, samostalne sportske djelatnosti. U socijalističkoj Jugoslaviji i Hrvatskoj sport se temeljio na načelima amaterizma i socijalističkog samoupravljanja. Od šezdesetih se godina 20. stoljeća profesionalizam u jugoslavenskom nogometu legalizira, a 1970-tih u potpunosti se afirmirao i prevladao pravne i društveno-političke okvire koji su bili predviđeni za amaterski sport. Klubovi su postali organizacije koje osim sportske obavljaju i gospodarsku djelatnost. Ovim radom prikazuje se pokušaj Nogometnog saveza Jugoslavije i republičkih i pokrajinskih saveza za pronalaskom rješenja kod nastale suprotnosti između profesionalizma i vladajućeg sustava samoupravnog socijalizma i udruženog rada. U radu se daje prikaz pravne regulative i analiziraju prijedlozi koje su davali nogometni savezi i klubovi za promjenom statusa profesionalnih klubova i nogometaša. Pokazuje se kako Nogometni savez nije uspio sam pronaći odgovarajuće rješenje te se za regulaciju statusa igrača kao radnika čekalo donošenje relevantnog zakona. Prilikom pisanja koristila se izvorna građa čiji su stvaratelji bili Nogometni savez Jugoslavije i Nogometni savez Hrvatske te savezni i republički propisi koji su bili relevantni za uređenje naznačene materije. Today, football clubs are mostly associations or companies, while professional football players usually have the status of a worker or, in rarer cases, the status of an independent contractor. In socialist Yugoslavia and Croatia, sports were grounded in the principles of amateurism and socialist self-management. Professionalism in Yugoslav football was legalised in the 1960s, while, in the 1970s, it managed to fully establish itself and overcome the legal and sociopolitical frameworks that existed for amateur sports. Clubs became organisations that, in addition to sports activities, also conducted economic activities. This paper presents the attempts of the Football Association of Yugoslavia and republic-level and region-level federations at finding solutions to the opposition that had been created between professionalism and the governing system of socialist self-management and collective labour. It outlines the legal regulations that were in force at the time and analyses the proposals for changing the status of professional clubs and football players that were given by football federations and clubs. The paper also explains how the Football Federation failed to achieve an appropriate solution on its own, and how the regulation of the status of football players had to wait until the enactment of a relevant law. In the drafting of this paper, we used original sources created by the Football Association of Yugoslavia and Croatian Football Federation, as well as federal and republican regulations that were of relevance in the government of the stated matters.